Share this:

What do you think: The Baton Rouge police killing of Alton Sterling

As much as I respect police for what they do, watching the latest video of the Alton Sterling slaying by Baton Rouge police, it’s hard to view this as anything but some form of murder. I realize Sterling had a gun but the officers had him pinned to the ground, and this didn’t seem to be a life or death situation for anybody.

So why did police have their guns drawn at all? From what I saw, the officers weren’t in danger.

Police rules of engagement in this country have to be changed, period.

That’s what I think after watching this video, but what do you think? Leave your thoughts below.

Like this:

Related

Comments

I have family who pin the blame on “poor race relations” on President Obama, and his “anti police stance.” No, absolutely not, it’s situations like these- recorded evidence of policy overreacting and brutality that are causing unrest. Rightfully so, because even if you commit a crime, you don’t deserve to be shot to death in the back while restrained by officers of the law. That is not justice.

Leaves me to wonder what was taking place before the camera started rolling. Why would two police officers go to such extremes when they clearly had their subject subdued? I heard on the news that both the officers’ body cams had “fallen off” before the beating. What did the one officer take out of the victim’s pocket? Who was shooting the video and not doing anything else? I’m not ready to jump to any conclusions either way yet.

Too many officers seem to forget that their job is to apprehend SUSPECTS so that the legal system can decide guilt or innocence. LA allows concealed carry, and Alton was outdoors, attempting to earn a living, and handling cash. His gun was in his pocket while he was murdered.
What about the original complaint? No 911 call has been aired? No complainant has appeared . The store owner says he is unaware of any such event taking place. The officers approached Alton with their guns drawn. Many questions to be answered.

You say this was not a life and death situation? What about Alton Sterling? That is a life and death struggle against two legal thugs. Two men sworn to PROTECT an SERVE. By the way I hear of another cop shooting a man in Minnesota.

Difficult to watch. Apparently, the video was recorded by the store owner and someone else standing there with a cell phone (per MSNBC).
(I hate when people do that. I wonder how many expect to be paid for their “evidence.”)
Race relations have gone downhill in recent years. That HAS to be addressed.

Police Officers should be able to make better choices in cases like this,
and they are happening too often. When the call is for robbery and the suspect has a gun, what will you find when you get to the scene? The police don’t know, and none of us would know. If a suspect has a gun, it doesn’t matter if it’s in her pocket, in his boot, or in his/her hand: he/she has a weapon. But this certainly does not justify the manner of the shooting.

On the other hand, a father of five children, all under the age of 15, and a convicted felon (who should not possess a gun) should not stand in front of a convenience store with a gun, selling CD’s and acting “threatening”.
The mother of one of his children said, ” He was simply trying to earn a living and take care of his children.
There are other ways to do it that won’t get you into trouble.
Very, very sad situation. Is the government still working on the gun issue after the attack in Orlando at the nightclub?
Which gov’t department is responsible for race relations?

Dumbfounded watching the video. It APPEARS he was pinned. Can’t tell if he was reaching for his gun or if only noted that he HAD a gun. It was still in his pocket after he was shot.

Like the lady that called for help with here mentally challenged son. Came to the door with a screwdriver, didn’t comprehend what the cops said (drop the screwdriver), so they shot him. But didn’t just shoot him. KEPT shooting after he was down. Like we was going to throw the screwdriver at them or something?

It looks like he was armed and resisting arrest but the use of deadly force was uncalled for and quite possibly criminal but the video doesn’t show the entire incident. Odd are the officers are asked to resign or get fired.

The police will get away with it. There is a precedent that started with Trayvon Martin and other cases of “stand your ground” which includes police brutality. All any white person has to say is that they felt threatened. If a Black person is involved, that is license to kill.
A few years ago, a young Black man was walking in Pontiac with his hands in his pocket. Someone reported him. A police officer respectfully approached and asked the man why he was walking with his hands in his pockets. It made the caller nervous. It was snowing outside and he was cold! It ended amicably but he could have just have easily been shot.

It is awful, but very hard to judge, based on what we have seen and heard so far. The guy in Louisiana actually DID have a gun and a criminal record. BUT! What do you think about the poor guy in Minnesota, who died because he had a broken tail light on his car? Listen to that audio. The cop was crazed.

It is too complicated to sum up in a few words. It is tough to be a police officer and do their job. That said, I have a few thoughts about how police work is being done at times. First of all, most policing is done by officers riding around in cars who don’t have a relationship with the people they are policing. So, it is easy to look at another human with less basic regard than should be put forward. Secondly, policing is often done from a “command” perspective. What I mean is the officer arrives in a situation and begins by issuing commands. There is at times little conversation. So, depending on the situation, it may escalate instead of deescalate in rapid fashion. I think back to a St. Louis video from a couple of years back where officer rode up on a mentally ill man who had taken two energy drinks from a store and set them on the sidewalk while he muttered to himself but didn’t leave the area. The video shows the cruiser pull up, the officers open their doors and draw down on him immediately with the doors as a barricade and issue commands to drop what is in his hand and then within seconds shoot him dead. He allegedly held a steak knife, but was a good fifteen feet away and hadn’t advanced on them. then there is Tamir Rice, the kid in Cleveland who got shot when the police arrived within seconds without any attempts to engage him verbally and to deescalate. The cops are often operating out of fear. Clearly more training needs to happen and much more discussion and dialog as a society to make improvements. Many police do a great job, but they are human and just like any profession are filled with good and bad, competent and incompetent people.

From the video in Louisiana, I can say that even if he had a record and a gun, the officers don’t appear to have been in a position where deadly force was necessary. After all, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. That gun in his pocket wasn’t going to shoot itself while his arms and body where pinned to the ground. It may have gotten to a point where deadly force could have been necessary, but it doesn’t look like it from the video. So sad all around.

Watching this made me tear up. Actually I couldn’t watch it, I listened. If this person was in fact outside a convenience store selling copied CD’s, just like the person who was killed in New York in 2014 by strong-arm tactics who was selling single cigarettes on the streets both people were engaging in illegal activities and from the get-go, put themselves in a bad light. It is awful that the arrests resulted in their deaths. So unnecessary.

Both situations are testament for the greater need for education and care for these people who resort to such activities just so they can make money to support themselves.

Until you know ALL of the circumstances, pleases give these officers the benefit of the doubt. Without being in their situation, we absolutely cannot know what was in their minds when this took place or especially before. All of us really need to get involved with our local police agencies and then we will have a much better idea of why they do what they do, what they don’t do what we think they should do, and how all of us can better support them. They are our protectors!

Ernie, I agree but only to a point. The video doesn’t lie. Yes, there were things we didn’t see but the fact remains two men were shot to death for nothing. This “let’s all just calm down and wait” stuff has its limits. When Sirhan Sirhan shot RFK, did anyone say “Well let’s all just calm down and wait for ALL the circumstances to be understood.” C’mon. You can’t watch two grown men sitting on top of one man shoot that man to death then say, “Hmm, maybe that’s OK – let’s just wait and see.”

Andy, I just completed a Citizens Police Academy here in Jackson County, put on by the Jackson Police Department and the Jackson Connty Sheriff’s office. I found out that it is a VERY demanding, stressful occupation. Beleave me, I know there are bad apples in every profession, including police departments, but we can not convict anyone, including police only on cell phone videos. Maybe they were wrong, but please, can we not convict them without knowing why they did all this? Maybe they are thugs that do not deserve to carry a gun and wear a badge, but until ALL facts are known, they deserve, as we all do, to be presumed innocent. Thanks, Andy

Were the police officers wrong in shooting Alton Sterling. I do not know,
the cell phone video only shows one angle of what was going on.

As to the all the protests about this incident and various others. The ex-soldier in Dallas murdering those 5 police officers and wounding a few civilians in the process, was a definite hate crime. Those members of the BLM movement would on be worth listening to if they also were to protest the black on black murders going on in Chicago, a city that has very strict gun control laws on the books, that is also ran by the democrats.
The BLM movement protests only police officer involved shootings.
As of July 1, 2016 there have been about 315 blacks murdered in Chicago. With an unknown number wounded. That is just Chicago, When you add in the NYC and LA shooting victims the count is way above that.

The BLM group is just a bunch of race baiters looking for a riot.
They may get their wish.
As Lenin wrote about some of those that helped propel him into power in Russia a little over 100 years ago, “they are useful idiots ,
Same with Adolf Hitler. He had the brown shirts that were his useful idiots.
Adolf eliminated the brown shirts in early 1937. He sided with the SS.
Both Lenin and Hitler were socialists, just like the democratic party here in America today.
Yes, Andrew, the democratic party is a socialist type of party.
We lose the 2nd Amendment, the 1st will follow very quickly.

Until that happens you will be in denial about such things.
Those who do not study history will repeat history.

Jim III, you are sadly misinformed about what BLM stands for and have basically defined them in a way you see fit and not in reality. Go to http://blacklivesmatter.com/ and you can get a taste of what they stand for. Your bias is showing.

A waterfront Fort Lauderdale mansion was acquired by longtime venture capital and private equity firm executive Andrew Heller for $15 million, The mansion includes seven full bathrooms, a four-car garage, a swimming pool and private dock access. A two-story guest house is located on the property.

About The Author

Andrew Heller has been an enduringly popular newspaper columnist in Michigan for a long, long, long time. He wrote his first column for the Escanaba Daily Press way back in 1979. It was about his … Continue Reading

Come Heller High Water II is the smash hit follow-up to Come Heller High Water I. It includes everything from Andy's takes on modern life to conversations with his back home pal Moon Dimple, and much, much more.

Saving the World One Column at a Time is a bitingly funny look at the world through the eyes of this award-winning columnist. In it he takes on corporate crooks, Little League parents, tongue piercers, ketchup sinners and much, much more. A must-have for Heller fans.